‘I saw him stand over someone and – boom’: How Dark Knight maniac ordered victims to stand – before picking which ones would die

Stephanie Davies, who was sitting in Cinema 9 in Aurora Colorado when a gunman burst in and opened fire on Friday, has revealed how the killer ordered his victims to stand before he gunned them down.

The 21-year-old Davies, who was pictured this week hugging President Barack Obama as he visited her wounded friend in hospital, said she saw the gunman barking orders at his victims as the massacre unfolded.

Her revelation changes the perception that the gunman merely sprayed bullets into the audience indiscriminately - and suggests he handpicked his victims.

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Chilling account: Stephanie Davies, 21 (right), says she saw audience members being forced to stand before they were shot. She is pictured with friend Allie Young, 19, who was hit in the neck

Special visitor: This picture of Davies giving a warm hug to President Barack Obama was widely published after he made personal visits to hospitalised victims of the July 20 shooting

James Holmes, 24, has been arrested over the shootings, which left 12 people dead and a further 58 injured on Friday July 20.

Davies
said she saw the gunman running though the darkened cinema at the
Century 16 theatre, grabbing certain audience members and shouting at
them before shooting them.

She told the New York Post: 'I see him up there, and I’m hearing him yell at people, and then you just hear the rounds going off: Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Praised and condemned: Davies undoubtedly saved her friend Young's life by stanching the bleeding from her neck wound, while suspect James Holmes has been refusing to co-operate with police since his arrest

'He would shout, "What are you doing?
I said stand up!" And he would pick people up. I saw him stand over
someone. I just see hair and him holding the shirt and boom!'

Davies
was not injured in the gun attack, and has been praised for undoubtedly
saving the life of her friend Young by stanching the bleeding from the
19-year-old's neck wound.

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Davies'
account of the massacre comes on the same day The Dark Knight Rises
star Christian Bale visited the scene of the shooting, as well as
meeting survivors in their hospital beds at the Medical Center Of
Aurora.

The 38-year-old
star laid flowers at the scene and was also photographed with survivors
and the hospital staff who treated their wounds during a
two-and-a-half-hour visit.

Star support: Christian Bale and his wife Sandra Blazic visit the memorial across the street from the Century 16 movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado. The 38-year-old lay flowers at the site before visiting victims in hospital

Grisly trail: Blood-stained footprints dot the back of the Century 16 theatre where a late-night screening of The Dark Knight Rises was turned into a brutal massacre

The Post also reported today on Holmes's erratic behaviour in custody after his arrest in connection with the shootings.

Holmes, who dyed his hair red and called himself The Joker - in reference to the famous Batman villain - has been refusing to co-operate with officers and has been spitting at prison staff so much that he has now been fitted with a face guard.

After his arrest, when police covered his hands in plastic bags to preserve any forensic evidence from the shootings - such as victim DNA or gunshot residue - Holmes sickeningly attempted to use the bags as hand puppets.